Grant Funded Programs

Dircks Tuition Assistance program

The Joining Forces Tuition Assistance Program was developed by The Academy of Clinical and Applied Psychoanalysis (ACAP), to provide administrators, health center workers, clinicians, teachers and anyone who works with vulnerable populations with greater accessibility to the opportunity to participate in ACAP’s programs through tuition assistance. The program has made ACAP a more diverse and community responsive psychoanalytic institute, linking our training directly to those who are interfacing with the most needy populations and sites.

Joining Forces (JF) originated through a partnership between the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey and ACAP. The program has been funded by the Robert and Joan Dircks Foundation since 2009. Joining Forces tuition assistance is an up to half (50%) tuition grant award. The JF tuition assistance grant is applied towards any of ACAP programs with the exception of the Clinical Supervision Course.

is enrolled in the one year program, ACAP’s conferences, TRS program or an ACAP certificate program course;

is in the first three semesters of the ACAP certificate program.

Tuition assistance grants are not available to certificate program students after the third semester of study.

To apply, the candidate must:

complete an application and registration form for the program of choice;

become accepted, if required, and registered with the ACAP administrative office for the course;

complete and submit a tuition assistance form documenting eligibility criteria to the tuition assistance committee

pay the remaining balance towards the course before tuition assistance will be applied to the student’s account.

Tuition Assistance applications that are reviewed and approved will result in a letter or e-mail stating the amount granted and the course that the tuition assistance covers or the applicant will be contacted regarding ineligibility. Tuition assistance does not make a student ineligible for work study or other ACAP programs or assistance. It is not financial aid and does not require repayment. ACAP appreciates participants’ letters of appreciation that are submitted to directly to the funder to encourage continued support or participation in volunteer activities at ACAP.

Tuition assistance is not always available and is based on Funding availability, funders’ restrictions and eligibility guidelines. Additional questions can be directed to the Tuition Assistance Committee at vaccaroaj@aol.com.

ACAP is offering communication and skills training to workers who serve vulnerable elderly with challenging behaviors. Non-profit organizations and individuals are eligible to participate. In 2010 more than 200 caregivers from 40 agencies have benefited from this program.

This five-session interactive curriculum offers real life scenarios, innovative methods, and issue specific skills to improve communication with the vulnerable and challenging elderly. It helps participants develop strategies to better communicate with the mentally impaired elderly, and seeks to improve in-home care of mentally impaired elderly by training family and professional caregivers of all categories including: family members, administrators, social workers, rehabilitation staff nurses and nurse aides.

The program goals are to improve medical treatment compliance and quality of life within senior care facilities and better transition discharged patients to independent living.

A track is opening specific to nurses with provision of continuing education credits. The series is made up of five, two-hour sessions in small groups.

Topics may include:

Good Aging, Changes in the Aging Body and Mind

Assessment of the Cognitively Impaired elderly

Interventions with the Hostile, Aggressive or Agitated Elderly

Strategies for the Withdrawn and Non-responsive Elderly

Approaches to the Mentally Ill Elderly

Working with Family Members of the Elderly

How to care for Substance Abusing Elderly

Managing the Needy or Manipulative Elderly Person

Communication through the Body-Illness to Somatization

New Approaches to communicating with the Elderly about Loss

The Language of Non-Verbal Communication in the Elderly

OR DEVELOP YOUR OWN TOPIC!

Contact Annette Vaccaro, Program Coordinator for information about participation:
973-629-7808 or Vaccaroaj@aol.com.

This pilot program is currently free-of-charge to participants through the generosity of the Grotta Fund for Senior Care and will be available for a fee following the piloting period. Selection and availability are limited to organizations who meet the grant criteria.

Here’s what people had to say:
-“The training has allowed our upper management and front line staff to work together cooperatively. ”

“the series was not only informative in communicating with the mentally impaired elderly but as a professional helped me to cope with the stress of this work, allowing me to perform my job better

“My instructor was excellent at providing a balance of theory and self-awareness. Although unexpected, I found the course personally stimulating and rewarding as well directly applicable to my work”

“The training was both an education and support”

An administrator: “We often think that it’s all about problem solving. This has shown me that there is more going on…There are a lot of real problems that people face, but what may look like a problem, may be a problem with communicating what the resident wants us to know about him.”

Strategies for Communicating with the Mentally Impaired Elderly: A Training Program for Caregivers and Health Professionals

Project Objectives:

-train 100-200 participants in a five session series
-hold two conferences for networking and dissemination of information
-develop general and issue specific curriculums
-complete qualitative and quantitative studies to understand the impact of our trainings

Assisted caregivers in becoming more comfortable listeners when interacting with the elderly

Specifically helping caregivers to become interested in the personal stories of those in their care.

Program Summary
This Spring ACAP’s program, Training Caregivers of the Elderly Mentally Impaired, has trained 96 participants in five sessions about how to improve communication skills and to sensitize caregivers to the unique needs of the mentally impaired elderly. In addition, a half day conference, Strategies for Communicating with the Mentally Impaired Elderly, was held for 74 participants. The program assists professional and family caregivers in managing difficult behaviors and situations so that in-home care improves and may become possible. The curriculum assists caregivers in developing intervention strategies that can increase cooperative behavior during activities of daily living and healthcare provision, allowing for independence and a consultive relationship to develop.â€‚

Fall 2010, sixteen groups of between 8-15 participants have been arranged and underway. A conference for networking, dissemination of information and review of the curriculum is scheduled for December 10, 2010

Joining Forces

Funded Programs Joining Forces is a program developed by The Academy of Clinical and Applied Psychoanalysis (ACAP), to provide administrators, mental health center workers and teachers with assistance in serving their most challenging situations, clients, supervisees and students. Joining Forces was originally funded by the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey and is currently funded by the Robert and Joan Dirks Foundation.

By joining together to explore intervention strategies that can be effective with our most difficult daily experiences, we can enhance our skills in working with people in many different settings.

Joining Forces has allowed people from varied settings such as:

juvenile justice,

human resources,

schools,

DYFS and

therapy offices

to participate in training that enhances their understanding of human motivation and has been shown to decrease stress levels. This is what one agency’s supervisor said about ACAP training:

“Modern Psychoanalytic supervision and training allows me to step back and study more. Then I understand the client and intervene in a way that meets them where they are in their current situation. Iâ€™m more patient with myself and my workers and more effective overall.”Joining Forces Training

Joining Forces was made possible by a generous pilot program grant funded by the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey

Joining Forces is a Training Program developed through a partnership between The Academy of Clinical and Applied Psychoanalysis And the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey. Joining Forces provides training to Mental Health Workers and Teachers Who Serve Multi-Challenged Families Experiencing Problems with Mental Health and Substance Abuse (The Healthcare Foundation was founded by the Jewish Community)

* In Year I, Joining Forces provided outreach to 9 locations. 350 contacts were made to inform and introduce workers to modern psychoanalytic methods

* By training workers who have established relationships with people in their own communities and settings, Joining Forces has not only had an impact on 25 workers but potentially impacted the 5,583 children they serve.

* In year II, by assisting workers in the proposed train the trainer program to work with others at their sites, we can multiply this effect in potentially reaching the 14,466 children served at each agency or school.

* Joining Forces is a proven model to help in the reduction of stress of healthcare workers. It has impacted the disparity of stress on the job in workers in the Greater Newark Area. This model can be applied to a variety of settings and populations.

Contact

The Institute welcomes people of diverse backgrounds and doesn’t discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, creed, national origin, age, physical disability, marital status, gender or sexual orientation in any aspect of its functioning or programs.

If you have a disability and need accommodations, please notify the ACAP main office at 973-629-1001 or events@acapnj.org and instructor at least 14 days before the event.

ACAP has been continuously, nationally accredited by ABAP, the American Board for Accreditation in Psychoanalysis, since 1990, and BGSP-NJ’s programs are regionally accredited by NECHE, the New England Commission of Higher Education. More>>